Dave Weatherwax / Jackson Citizen PatriotMenno Bontrager works to secure the base of a large structural beam at Our Lady of Fatima.

In what could be described as a leap of faith, members of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Michigan Center have launched a $1.3 million building campaign as attendance has dropped by a hundred families in recent years.

The hope is that the improvements will draw more parishioners, as experts say is typically the case. And it helps to be the only traditional Catholic church in the eastern portion of the county, an area rich with lakes that could grow with spillover from Washtenaw County.

When finished, it will be the largest Catholic sanctuary in Jackson County, seating 940. St. Mary Catholic Church, 301 Mechanic St., seats 895.

Some would call this a Christmas miracle that was 50 years in the making.

"It was the dream of Father Hugh Conklin to build a church and school," said the Rev. Andy Dunne, pastor of the parish at 913 Napoleon Road for more than 30 years.

Instead, parishioners have worshipped all these years in an open area of the school for preschoolers through sixth-graders.

"You can see the posts that were meant to frame a corridor and classrooms," said Keith Smith, who works for Cunningham Construction and is serving as general contractor.

The colored Plexiglas windows in that room will be the real thing in the new sanctuary, actually 72 windows in varying sizes. Ten have been "sold" already, the buyers having their favorite saint created in a stained-glass setting.

On Wednesday, the first of the massive beams that will hold up the ceiling in the octagon-shaped sanctuary were set in place. Dunne suggested the shape, and Smith and several other tradesmen in the parish designed the floor plan and took it to Alpha Design in Jackson for the actual plans.

About 80 percent of the construction is being done by companies with ties to the parish, which Dunne estimated will bring down the cost by one-third.

It is a parish with humble beginnings. Fatima was started in the cellar of a bank in Michigan Center, and Conklin celebrated the first Mass on Easter Sunday in 1956. Over the years, members wanted to build a true sanctuary, but a lack of money always stood in the way.

"We decided if we didn't move now, we never would," Dunne said.

The first campaign was a three-year pledge that started in 2004. That netted nearly $1 million, and a 12,300-square-foot fellowship hall with a basement was added on to a school wing. Now the 14,000-square-foot sanctuary is being built off that, so all buildings will be connected. The main entrance to the sanctuary will be in the narthex, a gathering area between the fellowship hall and sanctuary.

"People will meet and greet one another," Dunne said.

Seating in the sanctuary will be nearly circular, with the altar near the middle so everyone will feel like they are part of the service. It was one of the first things Dunne said he did in the current sanctuary, and the result is a feeling of "warmth."

Everything is paid for so far, Smith said. There is enough money to put on the ceiling over the sanctuary, but it will remain a shell as is the fellowship hall until more money is raised.

"We need the space because there are so many things going on in our building, from dinners to bingo," said Dunne, who will turn 79 next week. He was ill over the summer but is not ready to retire.

Smith, a parishioner for nearly 50 years, said a lot of people have been waiting and praying for this to happen.

"I felt like this was something I'd like to do and I could do," he said.